In the year 40,000, Barbarella, an adventurous and liberated
interstellar traveler, is summoned by the President of Earth to retrieve the missing scientist Durand Durand. He has vanished while developing the Positronic Ray, a weapon capable of destroying the galaxy. After crash-landing her spacecraft on the icy planet Lythion, she is attacked by savage dolls but is rescued by a local hunter. Barbarella soon learns that the universe is descending into chaos, fueled by the spreading influence of the Great Tyrant.Her journey leads her to the labyrinthine city of Sogo, a place of extreme decadence where the inhabitants are physically drained by the consumption of "excessive" pleasures, which the Great Tyrant harvests to fuel his dark machinations. Along her perilous trek, Barbarella encounters a variety of eccentric allies and adversaries, including the blind angel Pygar, whose wings have been clipped, and the revolutionary leader Dildano. Through these encounters, Barbarella navigates complex moral landscapes, often utilizing her own sexuality and empathy as tools to navigate the surreal, hallucinatory dangers of Sogo. She discovers that Durand Durand is not a victim but the architect of the city’s malevolent power, having harnessed the Matmos—a living, psychic energy source—to enforce his twisted will.As she infiltrates the heart of the city, Barbarella faces the Matmos, which manifests as a sentient, fluid substance that feeds on the intense emotions of those nearby. The environment becomes increasingly psychedelic and hostile, challenging her resolve. She eventually confronts Durand Durand, who intends to use the Positronic Ray to annihilate the universe. In a climactic sequence, Barbarella’s capacity for love and her refusal to succumb to the city's corruptive influence trigger a chaotic reaction within the Matmos. The resulting psychic overload causes the city of Sogo to collapse into ruin, consuming the tyrant and his weapon. With the galaxy saved from impending
annihilation, Barbarella and Pygar escape the crumbling city. As they ascend into the cosmos, Barbarella embraces her newfound status as a galactic heroine, ready to embark on her next mission through the vast, unpredictable reaches of space, forever changed by her surreal odyssey across the stars.